A frequently visited arch collapsed in Rock Creek Bay in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah, the National Park Service reported Friday in a news release.
The “Double Arch” geologic feature was also known by other names, including the “Toilet Bowl,” “Crescent Pool,” and “Hole in the Roof.”
NPS said no injuries were reported from the collapse, which happened on Thursday.
The Double Arch was formed from Navajo sandstone dating back about 190 million years, the news release said.
At least it was caused by natural forces, not some dipshit tourist trying to do something to it. Such amazing rock formations can collapse on their own, as the story notes:
Collapses of strange, seemingly sturdy rock features popular with tourists do occur time to time. In Taiwan, the island’s famed Elephant Trunk Rock fell into the sea late last year.
Puts me in mind of when New Hampshire’s Old Man of the Mountain finally fell off despite many years of trying to keep it together.
Was it, tho? Article suspects it was caused by waves from the lake. Isn’t the lake man-made? But, yeah, I agree it’s better than some dipshit influencer taking a selfie on it.
Makes sense. Most of them are produced by wind/water erosion over a long period of time. As the erosion slowly continues, it is pretty much inevitable.
Sorry to hear about that. I spent parts of the summers on 1987 and 1988 hiking through Arches National Park. When I saw the very opening of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade I immediately recognized the formations from Arches. There are hots at the opening showing Double Arch. You can see it here at about 2 minutes in:
The softness of sandstone is both the reason why cool shapes like Glen Canyon’s Double Arch form in the first place, and the reason why they don’t last forever.
There have been a couple collapses off the cliffs of Pictured Rocks in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the past decade. Makes me wonder if this arch I took a picture of in 2014 still exists.
ETA: We’re actually headed up to the U.P. next week, so maybe I’ll get the chance to see if it’s still there. My wife and I kayak a lot, and I asked her if she’d be game to kayak along the cliffs like those kayakers under the arch in the pic, conditions permitting. She said “that looks terrifying”.
Exactly. In Arches National Park Wall Arch collapsed in 2008, and Landscape Arch lost chunks in 1991 and '95.
The notable example in my area is at Natural Bridges State Park. It started out with three bridges, now it only has one.
The forces that created Yosemite Valley and Zion Canyon make appearances in the news on a fairly regular basis with rockfalls and landslides that block roads and close trails.
